North’ s two-club bid was artificial, creating a game force. After a game force is established, a jump is no longer needed to create a force. South’ s jump to three diamonds showed a massive suit. It carried this message: “Look for slam if you want to, but we are playing in diamonds wherever we end up”. North believed him!
When this deal was played in a money team game in South Florida, South won dummy’ s ace of clubs at trick one and played the ace and king of diamonds. That was the right play in the suit, but the queen didn’t fall. The losing spade finesse cost him a lot of money, as the opponents had stopped in game at the other table. There is a better line of play available, and we don’ t mean taking the diamond finesse. Can you spot it?
South should not play the ace of clubs at trick one, but rather ruff in his hand. The ace-king of diamonds would reveal the trump loser. South can now cash the ace and king of hearts, discarding a spade, and ruff a heart. A trump to East’s queen now seals the deal. A spade or a heart from East ends the matter quickly, so East must play a club. South wins in dummy and ruffs a heart, establishing the fifth heart. The ace of spades is an entry to the heart and South has 12 tricks. We’re sure you played it just that way!
